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WASHINGTON, Feb. 24 — Federal officials said today that they had shut down the major suppliers of drug paraphernalia in the United States in a series of nationwide raids, arresting 55 people who prosecutors said had trafficked in an array of merchandise that included lipstick-shaped marijuana pipes and gas-mask bongs.

Drug paraphernalia, once the province of neighborhood head shops, has "exploded" into a multimillion-dollar industry through the Internet, as suppliers have shopped their wares on public Web sites with little fear of prosecution, officials said in announcing the arrests.

Federal officials said the raids had yielded several tons worth of drug paraphernalia used both by suppliers to help produce drugs for resale and by users to conceal drugs. Investigators said the items — which included drug pipes hidden in school highlighters, soft- drinks cans and lipstick cases — would sell for tens of millions of dollars on the open market.